RedPrairie Moves Further Away From Talent Sources
RedPrairie’s relocation story has been a funny one, especially now that it appears they’ve finally decided to move to Delafield. To understand what’s going on it appears you don’t have to read between the lines, you just have to read the lines.
Flash back a couple years and you’ll remember RedPrairie had a CEO by the name of John Jazwiec who was constantly in the news. Jazwiec was a resident of the East Side, living in a plush house near Lake Park. Rumors at the time were centered around the company relocating from a suburban location on 94 to Park East land near the Milwaukee River. A back and forth game ensued with Jazwiec claiming he was ready to move the company out of Wisconsin, because they couldn’t find the talent they needed here. Then Jazwiec claimed he was robbed in his own home and was ready to start his own police force for his block before resigning his post and leaving the area rather abruptly. The Park East plans, which appeared to be rocky at best at the time, were suddenly off the map.
If we as outsiders know anything it’s that the CEO of RedPrairie appears to have a lot of power to affect where or where not the company may be located.
The damaging thing for RedPrairie in moving to Delafield is that they’re moving further away from their future workforce. It’s nearly impossible that they could have an intern from Marquette, UWM, or MSOE that would be capable of getting out to Delafield and back on a regular basis. If Red Prairie begins to complain about not being able to find the talent they need again (as Jazwiec did openly before), it’s purely self-inflicted. As MSOE, UWM, and Marquette continue to train top-notch engineers and future business leaders looking for employment, RedPrairie is moving further away.
I can see the headlines in 5 years, CEOs wondering why they can’t get top-notch talent to relocate or effectively recruit within the region. They’ll blame it on Milwaukee but they’ll take no responsibility for their lack of investment and failure to even attempt to move the region forward.
Talent will relocate for a high-quality urban environment, a comparable suburban area exists in almost every metro in the country. If you’re considering moving, even if you prefer to live in the suburbs, you won’t choose the area that doesn’t offer you the best of both worlds.
Let them move…
Hopefully, there is a start-up or group of grads/entrepreneurs ready to take their place. I am sure that many of Red Prairie’s employees aren’t too happy about the move either. I seriously hope (Mayoras) doesn’t consider Delafield to be the next San Jose…Just like many a naive and bias CEO, they will end up being on the outside looking in…literally.